Documentary

Tonight at 10PM on Showtime it's the seventh season premiere of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Yup, it's in its seventh season. They've covered a lot of controversial topics over the years and this episode will be no exception. Here's a preview. Before you hit play, please note that the topic is orgasms.

It's doubtful the tough guys (and gal) driving north to Alaska on the current season of Ice Road Truckers are big video game players. They're too busy staying alive while driving tons of cargo over roads would keep sane people home from school.

But, that's not stopping The (former) History Channel from launching its first paid iPhone and iPod Touch game with an application that allows users to command 18-wheelers across Arctic roads.

Fans of the show -- and of snowy truck driving in general -- can download a free, "lite" test version of the game now through Apple iTunes.

Jessica Alba could be facing vandalism and tagging charges for gluing several "shark conservation posters" all over Oklahoma City in an organized stunt.

Alba apologized for her participation in the incident after she was busted online. She's in Oklahoma City shooting her new movie and somehow got lured into this sticky "save the shark" poster campaign.

The city wide display is an obvious move for shark preservationists, as millions of the large fish are slaughtered every year by heavy hunting off the Oklahoma coast. Also, the classic film Jaws was set near Tulsa.

On Tuesday night, ABC News aired a special: Earth 2100. It was to give us a speculative look at the next 90 years based on scientific analysis and scenarios. The idea was to "scare us straight" with the worst possible scenario, and it was certainly bleak. According to these experts the worst possible scenario has life as we know it eradicated, cities destroyed and the global population dwindling below 3.5 billion. The message is about the importance of taking care of our natural resources and doing something about our negative impact on the planet. Important stuff, yeah?

It took me a couple days to figure out how to write about it, because I really hated it and I wasn't even sure why. Maybe it was Lucy's fictional narrative, shown in static drawings instead of computer imagery or special effects. Telling us about the ocean levels rising and changing the map may have had more impact if you'd shown us that map? Hell, their image for the flooding of the subways was a photo of a subway tunnel with poorly layered running water where the tracks are. You're not going to scare people into changing with 1960s era effects.

In The History Channel's Life After People (Tuesdays at 10pm Eastern), it's not looking at the world after a nuclear explosion, a war or any other disaster that wipes out humanity. It's far simpler than that. Humanity simply vanishes without a trace. And what's left is an exploration of our legacy, our buildings, everything we would leave behind, and how Mother Earth would reclaim what was once hers before we started carving it up.

The series is a spin-off of the documentary of the same name that became The History Channel's most watched program ever with 5.4 million viewers. While the sixth of ten episodes premieres tonight, as with many cable channels, the prior five are being shown pretty regularly. I just stumbled on it this week and have already caught each of them. Every episode focuses on a different thing we've left behind and moves us forward decades and even centuries, as we see how time and nature will slowly destroy everything we've built.

The History Channel has updated its website and schedule for the the return of one of its toughest and most popular reality series, Ice Road Truckers.

Set to return Sunday nights on May 31, new episodes of Ice Road Truckers take the show's cameras from the diamond mines and frozen highways of Canada's Northwest Territories north to the oil fields of Alaska.

The History Channel is one of those destinations I never seek out, but when I'm bored and flipping through they can grab me by whatever they're programming might be. I love the straight-up historical documentaries on major figures or events. It's also one of those channels that sucks you in and suddenly you realize that the sun's gone down, you haven't eaten all day, the cats are lying in their empty water bowls and you've been strapped into a hospital bed and hooked up to a ton of machines because your wife thinks you're in a coma.

Which means I'm more than excited about The History Channel tackling a new look at American history from the pilgrims to the current President. America: The Story of Us is a twelve-part mini that will be thematically and chronologically presented, whatever that means. Which one takes precedence? Unfortunately, it won't be airing until Spring 2010 when it will have to compete against the last season of Lost, 24 and American Idol for attention.

James Taylor can be the guest referee. I like how now that Jay Leno is getting his own prime time talk/variety/whatever show on NBC, and he'll still be coming on before Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show, there's no more hard feelings? Or maybe that was all tabloid crap. The rags have been known to spin stories from belly button lint and stray paperclips before.

It's a nice transitional nod for Conan to be Leno's last guest on The Tonight Show, as Nick reported, but I don't even think they should talk. Conan walks onto the set. Jay says, "You want The Tonight Show, you're gonna have to fight me for it!" And then it's on!

Much like the Children's Miracle Network Telethon raises money and awareness for muscular distrophy, HBO is hoping that their innovative program running through May will raise awareness for Alzheimer's. As the Baby Boomers age, this is becoming one of the key diseases they're facing, as are their children and extended families. Starting May 10 and running through the month, HBO is offering four documentaries, 15 short films, a community outreach program and even a book. Details for all of these can be found at "The Alzheimer's Project" website.

This is a great initiative, as Alzheimer's is one of those odd diseases that a lot of people don't really think about until it impacts them. My grandmother always told us that she didn't really care how she died. The only thing she didn't want was to lose her mind. Unfortunately, Alzheimer's struck in her latter 80s; it is not a pretty thing. Scientists are hopeful of a cure, but as with MS and other illnesses, awareness and funding are essential. This is a great move by HBO to use the power of their brand and network to push the issue to the forefront.

Normally you can expect VH1 to be renewing their horrible reality sexcapade competitions and other trashy shows, but suddenly there's a glimmer of hope on what was once an actual escape for the more mature music enthusiast. While it's only for 10 episodes or so for now, I'm still jazzed that VH1 is reviving Behind the Music at all. This was E!'s True Hollywood Story before True Hollywood Story. For me it generally didn't matter who they were spotlighting, all the stories were interesting. Of course, there'll always be a special place in my heart for the Milli Vanilli story. Heartbreak and more heartbreak!

You could call it a response to the success of the New Kids on the Block "Behind the Music" special this past fall. Honestly, I'm not even sure why the series was shelved in 2006. There are always new acts sprouting up and you'd think there would be plenty of fodder with the likes of The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and a new batch of American Idol wannabes each year. So far Lil' Wayne and Scott Weiland have signed on. I'm hoping for a Kanye West one narrated and written by West.

"B as in bandits. Who rob. And what do they rob you of? Logs. A blog is something that's contagious. It festers here and it eats away at the planet."

That's Amy Sedaris, explaining what blogs are. She's part of the new, six-part PBS documentary Make 'Em Laugh, which starts airing Wednesday night at 8pm (you can also buy the DVD in stores tomorrow). Amy not only explains the blogs, she also tells us what the internet is in general (like a big cave you drive out of). And "vlog" comes from the Latin for "head cheese."

This portion of the show is after the jump. Looks like PBS/WNET is going the VH-1 route and getting all hip with this documentary, having various experts on comedy sit off to the side of the screen, talking about comedy and making funny remarks, a la I Love The 80s or...well, 22 other shows.This looks like a fun documentary though. Besides Sedaris we'll hear from people like Dick Van Dyke, George Carlin, Carol Burnett, Chris Rock, Will Ferrell, Sid Caesar, Richard Belzer, Joan Rivers, Roseanne Barr, Billy Crystal, Michael McKean, and others. They're also going to feature many online humor, including College Humor, Funny Or Die, and zefrank.

Over the last two years Food Network's Alton Brown has taken to America's roads less traveled in the Feasting on Asphalt series in order to find the little known jewels that were left behind as the Interstates began to rule the country. Along the way, Alton and his crew dined on alligator, various pieces of pig that are not normally consumed by the general public, sweet bread sandwiches, and lots and lots of doughnuts. Now, filled with fried dough and cow brains, Alton has decided to get off of his motorcycle and see what other delicacies are out there in warm waters of the Caribbean.

Discovery Health will be showing a four-part series about the human body this September. Body in Numbers will show viewers how the body functions throughout the day and how it adapts and reacts to things humans do.

From the press release, the show sounds like it will be a lot of astounding statistics. The surface area of the lungs is about the size of a tennis court. And the fastest sneeze was clocked at 100 miles per hour (those are some fast boogies). So, if you're into cool graphics and interesting facts or just like learning about the human body, this sounds like it could be for you. However, as I read the press release, I couldn't help but wish that Discovery Health got the kid from Jerry Maguire to narrate the program.

Body in Numbers premieres Wednesday September 3rd at 8 p.m. ET / PT and will continue every Wednesday night in September.

When I saw the headline that Discovery Channel was working on a Da Vinci series, my first thought was that they were finally dipping their toes in the scripted drama pool. Because, really, there's some mileage to be had with a show about Da Vinci, don't ya think? And with other cable channels having success in the fiction department, it doesn't seem an unreasonable idea for Discovery to join the fray.

Alas, that's not what we have here. It's still a pretty good idea though. A team has been assembled and they will be tasked with taking the original designs of Da Vinci and building them with modern tools to see if they really work. The team will be comprised of a rocket scientist, a special effects expert, and an in-the-garage inventor. The show is tentatively titled Doing Da Vinci, but I suspect that will change. Somewhere in the development process someone is going to point out that, "It might mean something different than what you think it means."